"In the end, it's never good enough"; Kopecky Done with voicing ambitions after World Championship
Women's Cycling
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Follow us on GoogleLotte Kopecky has had an up-and-down season. The Belgian did win Milan-Sanremo and was also successful on the track, but she failed to impress in other races. The World Cycling Championships didn’t go well either. She will no focus on track cycling, with an eye toward the Olympic Games. But Kopecky will not reveal her goals.
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Kopecky came out on top three times this year: she won Nokere Koerse, followed that up immediately with Milan-Sanremo, and triumphed in the fourth stage of the Vuelta Femenina. However, the Tour de France Femmes didn’t go as expected, and the World Championships—where she started as a dangerous dark horse—also fell short: she finished 20th in the road race.
Kopecky keeping track ambitions to herself
Kopecky travelled from Canada to Shanghai, where the World Track Cycling Championships are taking place. She is already a six-time World Champion and won three more titles at this year’s European Championships.
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But after the year she’s had, she doesn’t want to get ahead of herself. “I find it very difficult these days to make any statements about my ambitions,” she tells Sporza.
Belgian thinks media handles rider's comments badly
It’s not necessarily about how she feels. It’s not a matter of insecurity, but she’s a little fed up with how the media is handling it.
“If you say something isn’t a goal, then you’re not ambitious enough. And if you say you’re going for a medal or a victory and you don’t succeed, then everyone writes you off. I think every top athlete is very often judged on things they say, don’t say, or don’t want to say. In the end, it’s never good enough.”
Read more below the photo!
Kopecky is teaming up with Bossuyt on the track for the first time in a long while.
Kopecky heads to track World Championships; looks ahead to Olympic year
So it’s entirely possible that Kopecky will simply go on to win another world title or two, but you won’t hear her talk about it anymore. The same goes for her ambitions on the road. “It’s not a given. Earlier this year, I won three European titles and Milan–Sanremo."
"There are a lot of riders who would be very satisfied with just one victory like that in an entire year.”
And so, with some weight off her shoulders, the Belgian is heading to the World Championships. There, she’ll race alongside Shari Bossuyt for the first time in four years—the same partner with whom she won the world title in the madison four years ago.
But the rainbow jersey isn’t her main goal. The World Championships also mark the start of the Olympic qualification period leading up to the Los Angeles Games, which will take place in two years.
That also means that road cycling will become slightly less important in the coming years. “We have to try to secure that spot for the Games in Los Angeles,” Kopecky states clearly. “Every now and then, we’ll have to prioritize the track over the road as we gear up for LA.”
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Clarice WebsterEditor
Clarice has been following cycling her whole life, wroting about Thibaut Pinot (among others) for her university magazine while earning her masters in Journalism. She is passionate about furthering equality in sports coverage, and has taken huge inspiration from pillars of women’s cycling like Beryl Burton, Marianne Vos, and Laura Kenny.
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Latest Comments
- - Grande articolo. Evenepoel e Ciccone al limite totale — respeto. Pero por favor, UEC, mostra la foto esatta della linea per evitare polemiche.jeremya06-10-2026
- - Not totally convinced by the “no further statements” line from UEC. If they used dual systems, where’s the corroborating second image? Publish both or it feels a bit opaque, ragazzi.julien06-10-2026
- - Quick one: why do the wheels look “bent” in the photo finish? Is that just the time axis thing you mentioned?lindae06-10-2026
- - Remco by a whisker is believable, but Cicco’s request is fair. In track and road we always go by the leading edge of the front tyre at the line—show the exact pixel row of the stripe and we’re done. Good piece.samanthak06-10-2026
- - Blimey, what a nail-biter. If the margin’s0028s and they’ve got EtherLynx running at 13,000 fps, just release the raw line-scan image and close the debate. Transparency costs nothing.cadencekingm06-10-2026
- - Wait, what does “qualified in age group 35–39” mean—does that race separately from the elites at Worlds, or is it all together? And do you need a UCI license for that? Gracias por la info, cheers.andrewf05-10-2026
- - While others are relaxing on their boats… he’s grinding gravel. Legend. Go VB77!michael5405-10-2026
- - That 56 km first leg looks like a shakeout ride. Does he plan to split it over 3–4 days? Heat/humidity in SEA is brutal—electrolytes will be key.sprocketspiny05-10-2026
- - “Undertakeke” made me laugh but edit pls. Also, is the course in Nannup more climby or flat farm roads? Would’ve suited Valtteri’s diesel engine, I reckon.julien05-10-2026
- - Tiffany Cromwell shoutout is deserved. They recon together and you can see her influence in his pacing and position on dirt. Great duo.pedalpowe2905-10-2026
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